Italian Open: Begu upsets 27th seed Mertens to reach last 16

Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu moved into the last 16 of the Italian Open by defeating Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 27 seed, 6-2, 6-0 at the Foro Italico in Roma on Sunday.

Begu, ranked No 161, will face the winner of the match between American Danielle Collins, the No 13 seed, and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the No 22 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the 33-year-old Romanian edged out Spanish qualifier Rebeka Masarova (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) and benefited from the retirement of French lucky loser Oceane Dodin (5-2).

Mertens, ranked No 30, won against Katerina Siniakova (6-1, 6-4) in the previous round of the Rome tournament.

Roma WTA 1000, other round of 32 results (Foro Italico, clay, USD 5,509,771):

• Coco Gauff (3) beat Jaqueline Cristian (LL): 6-1, 0-6, 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea (28) beat Marketa Vondrousova (6): 7-6 (1), 6-3
• Madison Keys (18) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (12): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Qinwen Zheng (7) beat Linda Noskova (29): 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Naomi Osaka beat Daria Kasatkina (10): 6-3, 6-3
• Angelique Kerber beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q): 6-3, 7-6 (4)
• Paula Badosa beat Diana Shnaider: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Yulia Putintseva: 6-3, 6-4
• Elina Svitolina vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Danielle Collins vs. Caroline Garcia
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Mayar Sherif
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Dayana Yastremska vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Sofia Kenin vs. Rebecca Sramkova
• Maria Sakkari vs. Anhelina Kalinina